Paper fastener



Dec. 18, 1951 J. D CRARY I 2,578,923

PAPER FASTENER Filed July 12, 1947 INVENTOR Jay D. Crary ATTOR N EY Patented Dec. 18, 1951 UNITED STATES'PATENT OFFICE PAPER FASTENER Jay D. Orary, l ortland, Oreg.

Application July 12, 1947, Serial No. 760,543

1 Claims. (01. 24153) The present invention relates to paper fasteners and more particularly to fasteners of the T-shaped variety such as are frequently used for fastening together a plurality of sheets of paper such as, for example, within a folder or against a backing member.

Papers to be filed are frequently first perforated with a punch and then secured into a folder by a prong fastener. When the fastener is straightened out preparatory to insertion of new papers, it has a tendency to drop out due to looseness within the perforation, thereby permitting the papers to become disarranged and making it time consuming to thread the fastener back through them.

It is a primary object of the present invention to provide a new and improved prong type paper fastener including a relatively small securing element assembled within the slot of the head of the fastener, the securing element being adapted for securing the fastener to the folder or backing member.

For further objects and advantages of the invention, reference may be made to the following specification while the details of the invention will be more specifically set forth in the appended claim.

In the drawings, Fig. l is a front elevation illustrating a paper fastener in accordance with one form of the present invention; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the fastener illustrating the fastener secured to a backing member; Fig. 4 is a plan view illustrating the securing element prior to bending thereof and which is incorporated in the fastener in the Figs. 1 to 3, inclusive; Fig. 5 is a view in perspective illustrating the securing element in a partially formed condition; Fig. 6 is a front elevation of a paper fastener according to a further modification of the invention; Fig. '7 is a plan View showing the blank for the securing element to be incorporated in the fastener in Fig. 6; Fig. 8 is a view in perspective, illustrating the securing element shown in Fig. 7 in a partially formed condition; Fig. 9 is a front elevation illustrating a still further modification of the invention; and Fig. 10 is a plan view of Fig. 9.

Referring to the drawing, a T-shaped fastener is shown comprising a pair of legs I and II joined together by the T-shaped head I2. Such a T-shaped paper fastener is well known and common in the art.

A securing element defining a pair of relatively short legs I4 and I is threaded through the slot I6 in the fastener head I2 and in a direction at right angles to the longitudinal direction of the head. The securing element or leg I4, prior to the bending thereof, is illustrated in the developed plan view of Fig. 4 and is further shown in the perspective view of Fig. 5 with one leg I4 bent at right angles to the remainder preparatory to insertion within the head I2. Following insertion of the leg I5 of the securing element through the slot I6 in the head I2 of the fastener, the leg I5 is then bent upwardly parallel with the leg I4 as illustrated more clearly in the view of Fig. 2.

In Fig. 3, the fastener is illustrated attached to the flap II of a backing member or folder I8 in which condition the legs I4 and I5 of the securing element have been bent outwardly against the upper surface of the flap II following insertion of the fastener through the aperture thereof and prior to the placement of papers indicated at I9 over the fastener legs II], II.

In Figs. 6, '7 and 8 is illustrated a further modification of the invention in which the securing element threaded through the slot in the head I2 of the fastener is of a generally cruciform shape or X-shaped as illustrated more clearly in the developed plan view of Fig. '7. The securing element in this instance comprises a pair of legs 20 and 2| with centrally disposed transversely protuberant portions 22 and 23. These protuberant portions 22 and 23 are aligned with respeet to each other and are dimensioned as to width and over-all length in accordance with the dimensions of the slot within the head of the particular fastener within which the securing element is adapted to be assembled. As illustrated more clearly in view Fig. 6, the portions 22 and 23 extend in opposite directions from the center of the fastener head substantially to the ends of the slot within the fastener head I2. The legs 20 and H of the securing element are thus centered with respect to the legs III and II of the fastener.

In Figs. 9 and 10 is illustrated a still further modification of the invention showing a round headed fastener comprising a T-shaped fastener 30 similar to those previously described but including a domed cap 3|. In this instance, the rolled edge portion 32 of the cap 3I serves to center the securing element 34 with regard to the legs of the fastener 30 and, in this instance, the securing element may be made of a straight strip as illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

What I claim as my invention is:

A paper fastener having a T-shaped head and a pair of separable legs for penetrating and fastening a plurality of sheets together, said head having a slot extending therethrough throughout the full width of said head and in a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of said legs, an X-shaped element arranged within said slot and including a pair of relatively short legs extending parallel with and along the opposite 10 edges of the legs of said fastener and a further pair of portions extending lengthwise of said slot throughout substantially the full lateral extent thereof for retaining said element in a substan tially centered relation with respect to said legs. 15

JAY D. CRARY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 209,516 Roulstone Oct. 29, 1878 713,071 Danforth Nov. 11, 1902 1,422,148 Tonkin July 11, 1922 1,914,699 Manning June 20, 1933 1,944,620 Usher Jan. 23, 1934 2,120,149 Karlen June 7, 1938 

